Prescription for Profit - Seattle Experiencing Boom in Biomedical Park Construction

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Inc.; Houston, Texas). When the dot-com bubble burst, the economic impact rippled throughout the country. Like many other locales, Seattle, Washington watched as a sizzling market for office space to house dot-com operations seemed to vanish overnight. Large-scale office parks on the drawing board were suddenly stalled, as it suddenly became a tenant's market and a landlord's nightmare. The rumblings began in late 2000 and by the end of the first quarter of 2001, over 1 million square feet of office space in Seattle was on the market and all of it at bargain rates.

"The advent of biotechnology and its apparent longevity has proved to be just what the doctor ordered in tech-heavy Seattle. Developers are retooling plans and designing huge complexes with biomedical operations as the main focus. The very nature of a biomedical research and development environment is clean overcoming any potential resistance to their presence," according to Annette Kreuger, Industry Manager of Pharmaceutical/Biotech for Industrialinfo.com. "When a major tech player like Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, jumps on the bio-bandwagon, it's very telling. His company, Vulcan Incorporated, is involved in a venture to construct a five story 112,000 square foot facility, with the majority of space devoted to biomedical companies and their required lab space."

Vulcan, with Harbor Properties (Seattle, WA), has landed Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) as the key tenant for the new building. SBRI is the largest independent research institute in the U.S. dedicated to infectious disease research. Future plans for the 45-acre development, known as South Lake Union, are as a biomedical hub, interspersed with retail, recreational, and cultural operations. Vulcan is also involved in another biomedical project with Schnitzer Northwest LLC (Bellevue, WA). Formerly called the Terry Avenue Technology Court, the development was renamed the Interurban Exchange. The 500,000 square foot complex will focus on biomedical research space. Construction will begin after final permits and pre-leasing requirements are met.

Lowe Enterprises (Los Angeles, CA) switched direction with a 164,000 square foot facility that was originally planned as office space on Eastlake. Retooled to host biomedical tenants, the project started construction in September 2001. The first tenant, unnamed at this point, is scheduled for move-in in late 2002 or early 2003.